Michelle and the Galaxy 500

Tell us your first name and a little bit about yourself?

Hi. My name is Michelle. I'm a full time RV'er, 63 love riding bikes and a full time grandma.

Which EVELO bike did you choose and why?

I chose the Galaxy 500. It had the small frame, as I am, what they call vertically challenged 5 ft one. We did have to tweak it a bit for the reach.

For me to be able to reach comfortably the handlebars from sitting on the seat, we just turn the goose neck around. That gave me about 2.5, 3 inches. Then we moved my seat as far forward as it could go. And then that gave me like another inch.

So now the bike is absolutely perfect. It's that upright, cruiser style and no strain across my lower back leaning forward to reach the handlebars. It's a dream.

When you bought your EVELO, how did you hope it would make life better

When I bought the EVELO, I had been riding a Pedego electric bike for about 10 years and I knew the technology has only improved. With the Pedego bike. I hated shifting and it was clunky. I just didn't get gears. I just really didn't get gears. I don't understand them. Apparently so I just hardly ever shifted.

So now with the EVELO I wanted the automatic transmission. However, I do find that I'm usually not using the automatic transmission. I'm using the manual transmission because shifting is effortless and it makes more sense.

It shows you the lights on the dial go increase as you're climbing a hill. So, you know, climbing the hill. You go this way, coming down. And with the belt drive, which was something I definitely wanted because I've had shifting gears.

And every time I tried, it seems like I would jump the chain and then you got greasy hands, greasy fingers. The husband is swearing under his breath because ultimately he's the one that has to help fix it.

 The gear shifting is just literally effortless. I just can't tell you. It is so smooth and just no thinking involved. It's just so easy. And so I you know, we always rode like 20 to 30 miles on a given day and riding along the coast here in Half Moon Bay, and now you know, I just do it without even having to think about it. It's just I can't wait every day. I want to get on my bike because it's just so easy to ride it.

What was the #1 reason you decided to buy your bike?

The number one reason I decided to buy the EVELO. I had honestly been researching for about two years, and they are the only ones that seem to have all the features I wanted the belt drive, the automatic transmission, the hydraulic brakes, and the pedal assist.

So, you know, it was hard to make the decision. Were 60. I'm 63. We're retired. We're on a limited budget. So it was hard to pull that trigger at $4000.

I did get the $400 off buying it at the end of the year. But still, it's a It's a huge investment. I knew I had my old bike for 10 years, so I said, Well, let's pro rate this out.

But I just finally, like you say, they had everything. All the reviews that I had read on them and their customer service. That was the other issue I had. It was kind of scary to buy a bike in a box and not be able to go sit on it and actually try it out before I bought it.

I read all their customers and, like, say, I took two years I've been emailing back and forth with Graeme and EVELO, for two years, and they've just been wonderful.

I had a little issue with the reach distance for me and their solutions, they responded back with an email usually like within an hour. And so their customer service was probably the number one reason and the fact that they had all the features that I was looking for in a bike.

Even though I knew it was an investment and but, you know, I like, I say I literally almost ride it every single day. We hardly drive our car here when we're parked in Half Moon Bay because we just ride our bikes. I ride. We have I bought the bags on the back. And so we ride to town. If I need milk, bread, veggies, you know, whatever. I can go to the store. I ride my bike, I don't take the car.

My husband is still refusing to go electric because in his mind Oh, you're not getting the same exercise. And so I show him. I have a Fitbit watch and Oh, yes, I am. I'm up in the zone because I'm usually only in pedal assist one. So, um, don't hesitate thinking you're not going to get exercise.

But the main reason for me was their customer service was, honestly, what put me over the top Because all their customer service reviews were just really, really good. And, you know, of course, there's gonna be one odd duck every once in a while. You can't please all the people all the time, but 99% that reviews were really good, and for me, they've just been phenomenal.